Secrets of the Mind
by KuraiOkami
Summary: Sasori hasn’t heard the words ‘I love you,’ since he was a child, nor has he been hugged since then. His trust in everyone around him is also slightly tainted since his old partner left him. What is he going to do when his newfound partner comes? SasoDei
1. Chapter 1

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__A/N: Hello there. This my very first fic, and my very first Yaoi one at that. I hope everyone will enjoy what I write, because if not, than simply don't read it. I decided to post this on this website after I made about a dozen of my friends read it at school, and they went nuts over it, and for reading about a dozen myself…o.O –coughs- Anyways, enjoy_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own a majority of the plot (except the parts where my friends helped me, thank you Amanda and Allison, and everyone else who read it!)_

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Chapter One:

Deidara walked very cautiously down a stony corridor. His small shadow flicked about the walls. This whole place sent unpleasant shivers down his spine. About five minutes ago, the Iwa Nin had been outside in the sunshine, admiring its warmth and happy light. Now, he was in a dark, gloomy desolate place…a cave. He could barely see a few feet in front of him, even though his forest green eyes had adapted to the darkness. What he could make out was rocks…just rocks…and spiders here and there; the rest was the insane darkness that now seemed to take hold of his mind and his entire being. Oh how he hated being in this cave that emitted and evil aura and smelled like rotting blood. No...not just a cave, it was more than that; Deidara remembered how he had to break all the talismans on the caves' door in order to just get inside…he didn't just come in uninvited…He had been asked to come to this desolate place.

He had received the invite a few days earlier…a strange ninja had given it to him. Deidara couldn't make out his face, but his voice alone sent shivers down his spine. The Nin told him about the invite, and explained exactly what it was, though not giving vital information away. Deidara had merely come here to uncover if this was what he really wanted…but, for now, he would have to see.

He continued down the caves corridor, always watching what was visible in front of him. He heaved a heavy sigh after a few minutes of getting nowhere, and decided to go back…but, he was interrupted by a strange noise…Out of instinct, every single muscle in Deidara's body tensed up. He pricked his ears intently to the sound, but did not turn around…

Before he could do more, a voice spoke up…

"Ahhh Deidara…How good of you to finally come. I thought that maybe you weren't going to accept my humble invite," said the voice coolly.

The sound of the voice made Deidara give a slight shudder as he turned around to face the voice which had addressed him.

Deidara glanced at the fellow ninja, Or at least, the silhouette of one. It looked like some kind of projection jutsu- the ninja was obviously somewhere else, and this was just a creation of chakra, but it was accurate. Well, from what Deidara could see, the strange silhouette that was now staring at him could have possibly been male if it wasn't a simple projection. The only other feature of the shadowed man that was visible was his eyes. These eyes emitted a strange aura within them. As Deidara stared back, he felt as if the pair of eyes looked directly through him…down into his soul where it read every one of his most private secrets and dreams. Deidara got a very uneasy feeling almost immediately.

In fact, the whole place had Deidara on edge, and his hand instantly flew to his clay bag, fiddling with the latch. He tried not to look too uneasy (he was a powerful ninja, he could handle himself in a fight), but there was something _odd_ about the man and cave and it was bugging him.

Though Deidara could not see, the man gave a crooked grin at his actions…

"Relax," he said very calmly, "and besides…your efforts are _pointless_…you _are_ in my domain now..." he added as his eyes watched Deidara's every move.

Deidara slowly lowered his hand from his clay bag. The man was right. He didn't have a clue where he was…Well, in a sense he did, but he didn't know the area as well as someone who lived here did.

"Alright…I'm here now, yeah. So now what?" he questioned at the shadow, his voice sounded strong and firm.

The shadow tilted his head to the left at this… "I thought the details were explained to you?" he answered with a question.

Deidara gave a slight scowl at this…he was here, but had not yet officially joined this organization yet. he remembered the encounter about three days ago…

'_So. What exactly is this Aka-tsu-ki, yeah?'_

'_I'm sure you know exactly what it is…'_

_ Deidara smiled… 'I sure do, yeah. It's an organization with S-class missing nin, yeah?'_

_ The other stared… '…Then why ask if you already know…'_

_ Grinning, he replied, 'To see if what you were going to tell me was different than my information, yeah.'_

He grinned at the thought of this flashback, and how he had tried to pry a little more information out of the shinobi. He didn't know what the Shinobi who questioned him looked like…for he had stayed in the shadow of his red clouded coat and strange hat the entire time. He did know that the Shadowed man was not the same Nin he had talked to three days ago.

The shadow looked at Deidara's puzzled expression for a while with slight interest…

"Since you have now shown up, this means that you will be joining us…" said the eerie voice as the man's eyes gave a quick, yet intimidating flash…

"I don't have a choice, do I, Shadowman, yeah?" Deidara said with a grin as he gave this man his nickname. Deidara knew that he didn't have a choice, since he had shown up at the Akatsuki hideout. He knew that this organization wouldn't have just let him know the location of the hideout, if he wasn't going to join.

But, how they knew that he would join gave him slight chills. He was looking for something away from Iwa, and had already been a missing nin for more than four months now .But, that story would have to wait for a better time, because Shadowman was now talking again.

Brushing aside his new nickname (for now) he turned to Deidara and spoke…"How we run things here are quite simple…" he paused and his eyes looked deep in thought and concentration…"You will be traveling quite often on various missions that I will personally assign you…'"

'_Great...missions' _Deidara thought_… 'but if he's assigning them, than he must be pretty high up in the ranks here, yeah.'_

"You also will be traveling with a partner ninja. The purpose of this partner is to cover any of the weaknesses you may have,' Shadowman paused for a second to think carefully of what to say next.

This was not what Deidara wanted to hear. How could they partner him up with someone! How he loathed being partnered with other ninja. He couldn't stand them, and they couldn't stand him…and his previous Iwa fellow ninja didn't really appreciate, yet alone understand the beauty and usefulness of his 'art'.

Shadowman then went on…"The Akatsuki itself is rather small…We have minions and underlings in every place you could imagine…While our final goal is to capture all of the Jinchuuriki; we are paid to do other missions to keep an income. The missions are for the most part missions that no one else will take- they are dangerous, because the Akatsuki is made up of only the strongest missing Nin, we are the only ones suitable enough for the job."

Instead of going off on Shadowman on the partner thing, (like Deidara would of) he merely stood there impatiently tapping his foot as Shadowman explained other rules of this organization and what kind of missions they would be doing…this went on for about fifteen minutes…and then Shadowman said his last sentence.

"I have already decided who you will be paired with. If you go down the corridor to your right, you will be sharing the third room. Your partner will explain any unanswered questions. I will also be sending down another member with your attire shortly." With this, the projection began to fade into nothing but wisps as the jutsu ended

Deidara nodded and gave a slight shrug as he followed the instructions to his new shared room.

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Deidara stared at the rock-like door in front of him…Should he knock, or just walk in? After about two minutes of standing there in thought, he finally decided just to waltz in…and that's exactly what the Iwa Nin did.

When he opened the door so abruptly, he saw another ninja standing nearly in the doorway. Deidara's green eyes widened as he leapt back a few feet with surprise…

"You should have knocked…" said the other Nin in a bored voice as he turned away from Deidara and went and sat down on a bed.

Deidara chose to ignore the other shinobi as he looked around his new 'room.' The room was a moderate size. There were two beds in the room; one on the right side of the wall, and one on the left. One of the beds had red blankets, while the other had black. The beds faced away from the door and each had matching side tables. On the wall behind the door sat a small, built in desk with a large wooden chair, and next to that, the closet. The only light was the soft glow of a couple of lit candles that were placed on the desk and the shinobi's side table. There where no windows, and the walls were smooth stone. The ground was earth, and some throw rugs were placed around the room.

Deidara stared at the horribly boring room. He automatically linked that the black bed was his, since the other ninja was sitting on the red bed. He crossed the room in quick long strides and threw himself down on his bed, making himself bounce with the mattress.

He sat up as he stared at the other Nin. Deidara looked at him strangely, because the Nin looked more like a monster than a human. He wore an all too familiar black cloak with a couple of red clouds here and there. The ninja stood with hunched posture, and he had stringy black hair, and a black bandana that covered all of his face except for his eyes, which were small and beady. Deidara could also see a long, metal, scorpion-like tail that hung out from the back end of his cloak.

Deidara's left eye twitched at the unpleasant view of what he concluded to be his partner…he would have to look at this scary monster-like person on his travels…all of a sudden a forceful knock sounded on the door. Deidara looked over at his partner to see if he was going to answer, and after about ten seconds, decided he would himself. So, Deidara heaved himself up off the bed with a sigh and strode over to the door.

He wretched it open to see a taller Nin peering down at him with yellow-green eyes. At the sight of him, Deidara almost fell over from shock. The Nin had a large plant-like frons that resembled two leaves, the outer rim of the leaves had sharp jagged edges…the whole plant looked like some type of mouth. Even more strangely, the left side of the Nin's face was black, and the right side was white. He had choppy green hair that added to his intimidating appearance. The Nin was wearing the same cloak that seemed to be the fashion statement around here. The Nin was holding a strange black bundle in his arms…

After recovering from shock, Deidara thought to himself, _'Did I just enter some type of freak show?' _He grinned_, 'I shouldn't be the one to talk…' _

The Nin held out the bundle towards Deidara and said, **_"...Here…your…attire…"_** in a creepy voice that matched his looks completely.

Deidara gave the strange Nin a weak grin as he took the bundle from his arms. No sooner than had he done this, the ninja vanished from his sight.

Giving a slight huff, Deidara looked over at his so called partner. The man was just sitting on his bed in the same position Deidara had left him in, twiddling with some metal tool-like object.

Deidara gave a slight sigh at this…as he began to look through his new clothes.

Sasori paid his new partner absolutely no attention. In Sasori's point of view, he seemed to be an idiot from his playful body language. As Sasori was quite intent in his work, he heard him speak for the first time, but it was quite muffled, so he really couldn't make it out. With a grunt to himself, he looked up at his partner. He was holding up the infamous black Akatsuki attire, and was comparing it to his own body.

To Sasori, the young shinobi was nothing special. He had long straw blonde hair, which was tied up into a half ponytail, except for one large blonde chunk that hung over his right eye. His eyes were a dark forest green, and emitted a happy aura. His choice in clothing was rather peculiar, for he just wore a simple black net-top, dark blue capri pants, and the standard ninja shoes. Fitted on his neck was a black choker.

The Nin must have known that Sasori had been starring at him because he stopped what he was doing to stare back. Sasori just shook his head at this…"Aren't you going to put your robe on?'' he questioned with no amusement in his voice as he merely stared back at him.

Then, Deidara gave have a quick grin as he quickly slipped the robe over his head. He pulled it down and straightened out the wrinkles on the bottoms and sleeves. He gazed at the robe with bewilderment for a second, and then wondered, _'How on earth did they get my size?' _before quickly turning to the next piece of his uniform.

He lifted up the spats as he gave a look of slight disgust on his face. He set them down on the bed next to him as he picked up the hat he had seen previously before. He set it on his head. He then lifted up the purple nail polish and examined it very closely with his forest eyes…

Next, he then turned to his partner and held it up,

"We have to wear this, yeah?" he said with slight disgust.

"On our fingernails and toenails…" Sasori stated as he set the metal tool he was holding on his bedside table. "You also have to put a scratch through your headband…" he added

"Nnnngh," Deidara mumbled as he began painting his nails, while muttering things like "This Akatsuki has weird taste, yeah…" and other things like "Why couldn't it have been a different color, un?"

After Deidara was finished painting his nails and toenails, he turned to Sasori… "So…What's your name, yeah?''

He then turned and took off his headband and put it into his brown bag that lay beside him.

Sasori stared at Deidara for a few seconds…"Sasori…" he merely stated as he gave a quick grunt.

Deidara gave him a strange look as he tilted his head. "Well, I am Deidara," he replied, his voice was slightly confident, yet confused at the same time. Deidara stared at Sasori for a few seconds, and then came to a conclusion, "It's nice to meet you, Sasori-Danna!"

…Sasori just stared at him for the longest time…His black, beady eyes watching Deidara as slight annoyance filled them…This made Deidara happy, though, because this was the first emotion he had gotten out of his new Danna all day.

"Never call me that again…" he stated, as he got up a slinked over to the built-in desk.

Deidara gave a mischievous grin at what Sasori just said._ 'Maybe I should always call him that, yeah. At least I get some reaction from this guy one way or another…_' he thought.

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_A/N: How was that for my first chapter? I hope you enjoyed it! - please Review!_

_Oo if anyone has any good ideas for Chapter Tiles, please tell me…Also, If I have any spelling errors, please alert them to my attention!_

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

The next morning, Deidara awoke to the sound of someone talking to him. "Neeaaaaah!'' he replied in turn to who ever was waking him from his precious sleep.

"You, Stupid Brat! Get up now!'' said an angry voice.

Deidara's green eyes flew open as he jumped out of the bed. "I'm up! I'm u-"he stuttered as his foot caught on one of the throw rugs and he fell over onto the floor face first. Sasori merely shook his head as he started to slide (or that's what it looked like to Deidara) away from him.

"Leader has a short mission for us…so, get dressed and meet me out front in four minutes…" commanded Sasori as he slid out of the room and shut the door.

Deidara stood up slowly, and then stared at his bare feet. Deep lines of embarrassment lined his face from his already foolish action in front of his new partner. He turned to the side of the bed where his clothes lied. Last night, he was so fatigued that he didn't even put his clothes in the closet. With a short sigh, Deidara lifted up his dark blue pants and began to put them on. He followed this suit until he was completely clothed, and his Akatsuki attire was properly placed on him as well. Then, he swiftly bolted out of the room to meet his partner.

He found Sasori in front of a waterfall that was a little off from the entrance to their hideout. Sasori waited till Deidara was close enough to hear, and then said, "We have been assigned the Shukkaku, from the Biju…"

Deidara stared at Sasori with slight puzzlement…"Shukkaku? Biju? What are you talking about, yeah?"

Sasori looked at Deidara for a long time…"Biju are the infamous tailed beasts. The Shukkaku is the one tailed beast. We must go to a small village about nine point two miles away from Sunagakure to get information on the Shukkaku. We also have a small mission there as well…"

Deidara gave a slight nod at everything Sasori was saying, only half paying attention.

"Alright, then! Let's be off, yeah!" Deidara said excitedly as he began walking away from Sasori in the western direction.

They had been traveling about 17 miles when they came to a strange forest. All the foliage in the forest resembled shrubs, and trees that were made to live in harsher environments than the previous trees. The sun was way behind them now, and in a couple more hours it would set.

About another fifteen miles and they would be in Sunagakure.

Deidara started to make conversation, like he had been trying to for the last seventeen miles.

"So…Sasori-Danna! Have you ever been to Suna, yeah?'' Deidara questioned with slight enthusiasm, for he himself had never really been to Suna.

Brushing off the 'Danna' part, Sasori replied, "…Yes…many years ago…" he stated in his creepy voice, though it sounded very stern and slightly harsh, obviously signaling to Deidara that he did not want to continue on with conversation. So, Deidara dropped it within a second.

Deidara had already learned not to get Sasori mad…He learned this about four miles into his journey when Deidara had poked Sasori and whined about being bored…Sasori had yelled at him very furiously never to touch him ever again, and that he didn't want to hear of, nor did he care, how bored Deidara was.

That was the first and last time Deidara ever wanted to see him mad…

that being so, Deidara kept quiet

About twenty-three miles later, they decided to stop for a short break. With the moon high above them, Deidara collapsed onto the prickly grass beneath him as he let out an exhausted sigh. He turned to his partner and watched him secretively. How could Sasori not be tired? Sliding around like that all day. Maybe he was starting to get a little tired, because lately he had been slowing down for about the last mile.

Deidara decided to speak to Sasori once more, after not having done so for about eight miles of their journey.

"Sasori-Danna…" said Deidara, the fatigue in his voice could be heard.

"What is it?'' said Sasori, in a very grumpy voice. Speed was not the only thing that had affected Sasori…He had become a lot grumpier as the journey progressed.

"How come you're not tired, yeah?" Deidara questioned very quietly, not wanting to set off Sasori's temper at the moment.

Sasori paused before answering Deidara in return, "...I'm…used to long distances."

Deidara returned his statement with a very soft, "Oh," as he gave a sad pout. Was he not as strong as his partner, or, was he just not used to traveling long distances without stopping at all? Deidara decided that it was both. He knew that he was not stronger than Sasori, and he knew that he was not used to traveling long distances either. A large gust of wind came up from behind Deidara and blew his straw blonde hair forward. The cold wind that touched his back made him shudder, even though he was wearing a large cloak.

Sasori took notice of this and gave a slight sigh. It would be a while before his newfound partner could get used to the experiences of traveling.

Deidara took out a small black blanket from inside his brown pack that was slung over his shoulder and wrapped it around him happily. He looked over to Sasori and wondered why he didn't bring along a blanket. Instead of asking, Deidara just shook it off and went over to rest his back against a tree.

"Is it ok if I take a quick catnap, yeah?'' Deidara almost whispered, as his eyes half closed.

"Do what you wish. Remember though…we will be setting off again in about two hours," Sasori replied as he sat there.

The last sentence rang throughout Deidara's ears as he closed his eyes fully and drifted off to sleep.

By late afternoon the next day, they arrived in a town called Shiko, which was about nine miles away from Sunagakure. They looked around the town with interest, for the climate and environment was totally different than the desert they had come from. About the twenty-sixth mile, the environment had become harsh and very sandy, they also spent the whole day in the heat, or at least Deidara did. Deidara believed that no temperature change affected Sasori, since he did not slow down at all when they entered the new environment earlier in the day. His strength drained, Deidara moved lazily after Sasori…

"Sasori-Danna…" he said with great effort.

"What do you want…?" Sasori questioned back, with slight agitation in his voice.

"Can we please stay at an inn and continue the rest of this mission tomorrow, yeah?" Deidara pleaded to Sasori.

Sasori merely kept walking. He knew that Deidara was tired, and it was taking all of his strength to continue walking. Sasori had a brief moment of sympathy, (for about two seconds…) for he knew that the harsh sun sucked energy quickly out of you if you were not used to it. Sasori turned the next corner and they found themselves in front of an inn.

Deidara would of glomped Sasori that instant if he wasn't so tired, and if Sasori didn't look like a big scary monster. Deidara almost ran straight inside the inn, and as soon as he opened the doors, he could feel the rush of cool air on his face. He stepped inside and walked up to the front desk to where the receptionist was sitting. Deidara turned his head around to see if the hunched figure that was Sasori was sliding on in, and sure enough, that's exactly what he did.

Deidara squeed with excitement as he turned to the receptionist sitting at the big oak desk.

"One room, yeah!" Deidara said with excitement as the receptionist raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just one room?" she questioned, as she cast a glance over at Sasori…"Two beds, yes?" the lady asked, slightly dreading the answer.

Deidara just stared at her in awe for about ten seconds…as if he would ever share a bed with Sasori! A room, under these conditions, yes! And that's only because they had a certain amount of funds…

From Deidara's lack of speech, Sasori spoke up… "Yes, two beds," He answered.

The receptionist looked slightly relieved with that answer as she began to ring their room up. "All right then. Your room is number is 104. Here is your key," she told them as she handed Sasori a small, metal key.

Sasori took it from her and started to slide down the hall to the left. Deidara gave a slight shudder, still a little freaked out by how his Danna moved. Shaking it off, the Iwa Nin followed in Sasori's suit down the hall. He found Sasori standing in front of their room, as Sasori's strange claw-like hands twisted the key into the door. Opening the door, Sasori sidled inside, and Deidara followed. Deidara glanced around the room. It basically looked like a hotel room. There were two beds along the right wall, and a sliding glass door leading to a small balcony on the wall opposite the door. The door to the bathroom was right beside the door out, on the left wall. There were a few pictures of landscapes on the walls, a bedside table beside each bed, with a lamp fit neatly on each as well, and two chairs and a table to the side of the sliding door. The walls where a neutral green color, and reminded Deidara of that time he was sick.

Deidara shrugged off the walls, deciding to avoid looking at them at all costs. He moved over to the bed that was closest to the door and threw his two bags down on the floor beside his bed, and then flopped on it. Sasori lazily slid over to his bed, and sat down upon it. After about two minutes of lying on his bed, Deidara sat up abruptly. This action made Sasori glance over at him in surprise, which made Deidara grin. It was always interesting to see slight emotions out of that hunched man that he called his Danna.

"I think I am going to go take a shower, yeah," the blonde stated as he crawled off of his bed.

On his way to the bathroom, he looked over at his bed longingly, but decided that it would feel even better if he took a shower first.

Several minutes later, Deidara was staring at the shower head as it covered him in steaming water so hot it was reddening his skin.

The muscles in his legs ached horribly all throughout. The steamy water made his legs feel a little better, but he could still feel the twinge of pain in them. Deidara's green eyes examined the shower wall with slight interest, since there was nothing else to entertain the blonde at the moment.

About half an hour later, the blonde Iwa nin emerged from the bathroom, humming happily to himself and feeling a little more energetic than he had been before…Blonde hair sopping wet, and clinging to his bare shoulders and neck. He wore nothing more than his blue capri pants, and they seemed very loose on him, and hung a little low on his hips. Deidara pushed a couple strands of his straw blonde hair out of his face.

"Hey Danna! The shower is free, yeah!" Deidara called as he turned to the bed where Sasori last was. A sudden jolt went straight through Deidara's heart…There was not the strange monster sitting on the bed, but a man with red hair in a black cloak. Deidara cast his green eyes towards the ground where a pile of what looked like his partner laid. But, he looked lifeless.

With sharp reflexes, Deidara reached into his clay bag and pulled out a large glob of clay that was a brown-red color.

"What did you do to Sasori-Danna, un!" Deidara shrieked as he looked at the man, then to the lifeless form of his partner, then back to the man with red hair.

The man turned around abruptly and stared at Deidara…"I am Sasori…" he said in a bored voice, that did sound like Sasori, but much louder than it usually did.

Deidara's mouth dropped open about two inches…this man was his partner? His Sasori-Danna!

The man had dull rusty-red, unruly hair and dark green eyes with a hint of a blue hue in them. He wore a very bored expression on his face, and he looked younger than Deidara thought he actually was. He was kind of short too. He wore the formal Akatsuki attire, and he was currently holding a metal tool-like object and was holding the old Sasori's tail in his hands. Deidara gave a confused weak grin…this was Sasori? Then what was that thing on the floor that he had been starring at for two days…

"Uh…Danna, yeah? If your Sasori-Danna...than what is that on the floor, hmm!" Deidara almost shrieked for he was very confused and angry, for some strange reason, at the same time.

"That's the puppet I travel in. His name is Hiruko…" Sasori drawled out in a bored voice, even though his partner was freaking out _slightly._

Deidara collapsed down on his bed…"Oh…OK, un," he said too exhausted to even question Sasori any further.

He leaned over and replaced his clay that was clutched tightly in his grasp in his brown bag. He laid there for a moment before his thoughts took over.

_"At least this Sasori is more attractive than that freakish puppet he travels in, yeah…" Deidara thought as he grinned to himself._

_Wait._

_Did he just think something strange about someone he just met two days ago?_

_**His partner**?_

_And about a **guy** at the very least!_

_He rephrased that thought inside his head…"More pleasant to look at, yeah…" as he grinned even wider, apparently pleased with himself._

Sasori happened to look up over at Deidara and stared at him…

"And your wet and naked why?'' he said in a bored type of tone.

This caught the blonde's attention as he sat up abruptly. From the slight commotion, he had forgotten that he had no shirt and that his hair was still wet and untidy.

He reached into his black bag that was beside his bed and pulled out a smooth wooden hairbrush. Deidara took a handful of his blonde hair and began to run the brush gently through it. Finishing that part, he began to do it to another part of his hair. The Iwa Nin could feel his partner watching him, and it sent strange shivers through him. So, he turned to look at him…

"Can't resist my pretty face, yeah?'' the blonde said with a smart tone as he gave him a wide grin.

Sasori returned the grin, but it looked more devious on his face, "Nope. Just your body…" Sasori returned back at Deidara with the same smart tone that didn't fit his usual voice.

Deidara just sat there with a look of slight shock on his face, but he quickly replaced it with a grin. At least he had gotten Sasori to open up to him a little more…

_"Hmm…I wonder how far I could push him, yeah? How much he would take from me, yeah?" he paused in thought, "maybe I should do it when I am less tired...yeah…" Deidara concluded._

After he was done brushing his hair, the Iwa Nin replaced the brush in his black bag, and then laid back down on the bed and fell asleep instantly.

After about two hours, Sasori, who had been working on Hiruko's tail, looked over at the sleeping blonde. He was completely dead asleep, "He must have gone to sleep instantly…" Sasori concluded since Deidara hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on.

For some reason, Sasori felt a strange bond with Deidara, even though the Iwa Nin annoyed the crap out of him, and he had just met him two days ago. Maybe it was his quirky personality and ways of doings that slightly amused Sasori. Sighing, Sasori got up and walked quietly over to Deidara. He pulled the blanket up over his bare chest, and brushed a long blonde strand of Deidara's hair out of his face. Sasori looked around the room with slight amusement…he would have to wait at least six more hours before he could wake the blonde up.

Why did Sasori want the blonde up?

Well, for starters, he was done working on Hiruko's tail.

He was extremely bored and wanted the blonde to amuse him with his quirkiness.

And he also wanted to annoy him back. What the blonde said earlier was different. He just came out and said it without thinking anything of it…and the look on Deidara's face was priceless when Sasori had answered back.

Sighing, Sasori went and laid down on his own bed, knowing that sleep would not come to him.

A/N: Well. another chapter…

Review please?


	3. Chapter 3

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A/N: This chapter originally wasn't in the story. I decided to put it in after reading that I should take it a little more slowly with the whole Sasori/Deidara thing. I also put it in here to explain their mission a little more clearly. They are not catching Gaara yet. This is about two to three years before that even occurred (I think). They are not even in Suna…(See Chap. 2) They are in a small(madeup..) town about 9.2 miles away.

I hope that cleared up any questions or anything…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter Three:

Deidara awoke the next morning to a familiar voice yelling to him once again.

"Nya!" Deidara screamed back as he pulled the neutral-brown cotton blankets over his head, and rolled away from the noise.

"Get up now, Stupid Brat," commanded the voice of his partner.

Deidara gave a grunt as he rolled back over on his side. _'Is this how every freakin' morning is going to be, hmm?'_ he thought to himself as he opened his green eyes. He removed the cotton blankets from his head and tossed the blankets off of himself to the side of his bed. Next, he swung his legs over to the side of the bed and stood. As soon as his feet made contact with the carpet, a sharp jolt of strain ran straight throughout his legs, making the blonde's face squint with pain.

The redhead raised an eyebrow at Deidara's expression. "Hm?" he grunted. The Iwa Nin returned his gaze and quickly turned his pain showing expression into his ever famous cocky grin.

_'I won't show him my pain…'_ Deidara thought as he turned away from Sasori and began digging through his bag for his clothes. He gave himself a light grin when he found his black net top. He held the shirt straight out in front of him and examined it with his forest green eyes for about three seconds.

"Hurry up, Stupid Brat," hissed the redhead from behind him.

Deidara turned around to argue back, but he found himself not looking at the redhead, but the hunched figure that was Hiruko. Deidara glared into Hiruko's black beady eyes, and then he stuck his tongue out in a mocking manner.

Blinking, Hiruko turned away from the blonde and grunted, "I'm leaving, Brat."

He then grasped the door handle with his claw-like hand, opened it, and slid right through it. Deidara's green eyes widened with slight shock

"Wait! I'm coming, yeah!" He shouted to Hiruko as he quickly slipped the net-shirt over his bare chest. Then, he slipped on his shoes and spats. Next, grabbing the Akatsuki cloak, and his bag off the floor, Deidara ran out of the hotel room after Hiruko.

* * *

Two hours had passed since the Akatsuki duo had left their room. During the pat two hours they had walked and slid slowly (to Deidara at least) around Eastern Shiko. They had spent no longer than two minutes talking to the townspeople about Suna. Every being they talked to (or passed on the street) gave them very inquiring looks. Luckily for Deidara and Sasori, Shiko was not a village where ninja resided.

Sasori had decided that it might be best (after two hours of listening to Deidara's ramblings) to spilt up and gather information separately. Sasori had told Deidara that it would go faster and be more efficient, and the blonde had agreed.

After about ten minutes of 'Data Gathering' on his own, Deidara felt kind of bored….

_'Neah…I am also hungry, yeah. I should find Danna and get some food,'_ he decided. So, the blonde turned around and began walking back the way he had last seen Sasori go.

Exactly one minute later, Deidara spotted the ever so familiar hunched figure lurking through a large crowd of people. Squeeing with delight, Deidara ran over to Sasori and was about to glomp him from behind, when he suddenly spun around. At this sudden action, Deidara skidded to a stop before he ran into his partner.

"What do you think you are doing?" hissed Hiruko when the blonde was close enough to hear.

The tone in Sasori's voice made Deidara shiver slightly. He clasped his hands together nervously and said, "I'm hungry, yeah."

Blinking, Hiruko turned away from Deidara and replied in a bored tone, "Then go eat."

Deidara grabbed the edge of Hiruko's coat and gave it a small tug, "But Danna! I want you to eat with me, yeah!" said Deidara in an innocent tone as he gave a slight smile to Hiruko.

"Go eat by yourself," Sasori commanded in an annoyed voice as he began to sidle away from the annoying Iwa Nin.

Deidara grabbed the edge of Hiruko's coat and hung on, being pulled along with each slide Hiruko took.

"But you have all the money, yeah! And I don't want to eat alone in this strange place," Deidara shouted back.

This strange argument had all the inhabitants of Shiko watching them intently, and Sasori automatically took note of this. Obviously, how Deidara was acting wasn't normal. Giving a heavy sigh, Hiruko stopped sliding.

"Get off me and I might come with you…" he ordered as the puppet closed his eyes.

Deidara automatically let go of the cloak, and returned Sasori's agitated look with a victorious smile.

* * *

Later at the restaurant, Deidara was busy devouring hot fluffy pancakes drenched in sticky, hot syrup. Just watching the blonde eat all that syrup made Sasori feel slightly dizzy and sick.

"Aren't you going to eat, yeah?" Deidara questioned as he took a bite of toast smothered in grape jelly.

"…I am not hungry…" Sasori grunted in reply.

Deidara gave him a strange look as he took a sip of milk, "Not even a little?"

"Just hurry up and eat so we can go back to the Hotel…" Sasori commanded from inside Hiruko as he waited for Deidara.

Deidara looked up at his Danna with his green eyes, and wiped syrup from his mouth.

"Alright, Sasori-Danna. I only have one more bite, yeah!" he stated in between mouthfuls. And sure enough, Deidara put the last bite into his mouth and stood up. He felt the strain in his legs, but caste it aside as he began to follow Sasori out of the restaurant.

When they made it back to the room, it was already early evening.

Even though it was only the second day, Deidara had made a routine that he decided to follow when they got back to the room every night:

1.Annoy Sasori a little

2. Take a nice hot shower

3. Brush Hair

4. Annoy Sasori while brushing hair

5. Annoy Sasori once more, and then go to sleep.

And he followed every single step until they were complete, which wasn't very hard considering it was a short list, and three of the things where very similar.

Sasori had a much different routine than Deidara:

1.Inspect each puppet and make sure it was in working order

2. Have quiet time while Deidara was in the shower

3. Fix tweaks and damages on puppets

4.Ignore Deidara while doing this

5. Repeat steps all night till the next morning.

Sasori's list was busier than Deidara's was, but nonetheless boring as plain cheese.

So, after Deidara was sound asleep, Sasori basically sat on his bed, once again. Waiting for the next day so he could continue his mission.

A/N: To me, this chapter seemed rather boring, and short. It was more of a side chapter than an actual chapter, but I promise to make it up in chapter four! I hope I didn't bore anyone to death, and I promise chapter four will be much more exhilarating!

Also! Please tell me if there are any mistakes!


	4. Chapter 4

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A/N:

Whoo! Another Chapter! I am already done with the fifth one, and may post it after some fine tuning and tweaking. Reviews will make me go faster, hehe!

Anyways, hope you will enjoy this chapter

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Chapter Four:

Morning came very slowly for Sasori. He figured that it was about 7:12 a.m. With that being so, he automatically sat straight up on his bed. His green eyes gazed about the room, looking at the pale green walls that were slightly illuminated from the light that came through the sliding glass door. His gaze turned to the fellow sleeping Nin beside him. Though he was still sound asleep, Deidara had a very awkward sleeping position. One leg was firmly on the bed, while the other was hanging off the left side as well as most of the blanket. His shirt was missing from his shower the previous night, and his hair was untied and a tangled mess.

The redhead gave a slight grin at this. The Iwa Nin looked so peaceful sleeping, compared to the over hyperness of when he was awake.

The sun had risen a bit more, and the light was channeling in through the open curtains, and was casting its pale glow on the sleeping blonde. The light seemed to have its own fun with Deidara, for his hair gave a sleek shine, even in the pale light. Sasori averted his eyes from this peaceful scene as he decided that it was now time for them to pull off their mission.

A bored look plastered his face as he heaved himself off his bed and began making his way towards the sleeping Deidara. Sasori outstretched one of his long fingers towards the shoulder of Deidara, and tapped him lightly. As soon as he did this, a strange chill ran through him, and Sasori pulled his finger away automatic. He looked down at his finger with strange eyes, and, deciding it was a fluke, and tapped Deidara on the shoulder once more. The same chill ran through him, but Sasori chose to ignore it.

The sleeping Deidara stirred slightly and mumbled in his sleep, "I don't want the rubber ducky, yeah. It scares meh, yeah."

Sasori gave a slight cough at this, as he tapped Deidara once more, but this time a little more forcefully than he previously had.

In mid-tap, Deidara caught Sasori's finger in midair. Sasori stood frozen and stared down at Deidara, but strangely he was still asleep. Sasori gave a sigh, and as he was about to easily pull his finger from the sleeping Nin's grasp, Deidara pulled him forward. Before Sasori knew what was happening, he was on top of his fellow shinobi, and Deidara was giving him a tight hug.

Still sleeping Deidara muttered, "…I love meh Danna…" and at this, Sasori froze.

After about a minute of the strange sleep hug, Deidara released him and rolled over on his other side, leaving Sasori to stare at him with slight shock…

Sasori had not been hugged (even if it was not intentional) since he was a child. Nor had anyone ever said that they loved him. Within a few seconds Sasori shook off his shock, but was still staring at the sleeping Nin. Sasori grunted, as he then grabbed Deidara roughly by his shoulders and started to shake him with force.

At that instant Deidara turned over in his bed and almost rolled off the side, while shouting, "I am awake! I am awake, yeah!"

Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Deidara turned to look at Sasori who had woke him once again from his sleep. Deidara picked up his black bag, gave a said pout as he began to walk to the bathroom, all the while muttering things like, "Not enough sleep, un!"

After five minutes, the blonde returned from the bathroom with his net top on and his hair brushed and fixed to the usual style. He closed his eyes and gave a light grin to Sasori as he picked up his Akatsuki cloak from the floor beside him. Already Deidara had regained his happy aura, and this made Sasori scowl slightly.

Slipping the robe over his head, Deidara turned to his shoes and began to slip them on. He then turned to the white sock-like things, called spats, and slipped them under and over his black shoes. He grabbed his hat off of the bedside table and put it on his head. By the time he was done, Sasori was already in Hiruko and was waiting by the door for Deidara. Deidara grinned as he grabbed his brown bag from beside the bed and rushed out to meet Sasori.

Yawning, Deidara followed Sasori through the city of Shiko. All the inhabitants in the city gave them very strange looks as they passed them, and they all whispered under their breath as well. Deidara gave a sad smile at them as he passed them, and Sasori just chose to ignore them. After about fifteen minutes of walking, Deidara noticed that the daylight had become very dull. He looked up into the sky and gave a slight grin. He saw large, dark gray thunderclouds looming overhead in the gray sky. They looked intimidating compared to the soft, fluffy white clouds that dotted the once blue sky.

"Sasori-Danna! Do you think its going to rain today, yeah?'' questioned Deidara as he clasped his hands together with excitement.

Sasori gave a slight pause before he spoke up… "It may rain, or the clouds may simply pass on without a single drop."

Deidara gave a happy grin at them, hoping that it would rain. Oh how he loved the rain! He loved how it felt on his skin; he even loved the smell that came with the rain. When it rained though, the blonde would like nothing more than curling up into a ball with a thick blanket and sleeping. But, there would be none of that today. Today they were on a mission to gather information on Suna.

But, it was mainly Sasori who was doing the mission. He told Deidara not to speak at all to the townspeople, and Deidara obeyed. He didn't really mind. This mission didn't interest him all that much anyway.

It also wasn't really what Deidara expected anyway, he expected more fighting and harder missions than this one.

After about an hour of walking around and talking to people, a large crash of thunder boomed through the entire town. Squealing, Deidara glomped Sasori from behind, all the while saying, "It's gonna rain, Danna! Rain, yeah!"

Sasori briskly slid on, choosing to ignore the Iwa nin at the minute. Yet, sure enough, one minute later a couple of raindrops fell. They were small, and light, so it took Deidara a couple of seconds to realize it was raining, but when he did, Deidara screamed happily out loud. This attracted the attention of many villagers around them, and made Sasori scold Deidara for 'being an idiot', as he put it.

Five minutes later, it began pouring down in thick sheets of rain. As soon as it hit, Deidara just stood there in shock with his mouth open for about two minutes, until he regained his senses.

"Wow. This is sure a lot of rain for a desert, yeah." He stated to Sasori, who nodded.

They walked around for an hour before deciding to head back to their room.

When they entered the room, both of them were soaked from head to toe. Shivering, Deidara removed his wet Akatsuki cloak. But that didn't really help that much. Sasori easily slipped out of Hiruko, and was completely dry. He pulled the shell of his puppet onto his bed with himself. Cursing under his breath, Sasori began to examine Hiruko to make sure that there was no permanent damage.

Deidara noticed that Sasori took great pride in his puppet, which didn't really bother Deidara.

"I-is Hi-Hiruko o- ok, yeah?" Deidara questioned in between shivers. Sasori looked over at Deidara and gave him a lazy nod, as he wore his ever famous 'bored' expression.

Sneezing, Deidara moved across the room in quick long strides. He moved over to Sasori's bed and he sat down right by Sasori, who just barely looked up and gave him a strange stare.

"Danna, I don't feel so good…un…" he said very quietly as an uncontrollable shiver ran throughout his entire being. Sasori looked over at Deidara with a very skeptical look…but, after a while he gave a sigh.

"After dancing insanely in the icy rain for an hour, I would imagine that anyone would be sick," Sasori told him in a quiet voice.

Deidara made a strange sad noise as he sat there. Feeling a sudden rush of hotness emerge, he laid his head down on Sasori's shoulder and gave a large shudder. Sasori gave a strange look at Deidara, but decided to let it slide since his fellow partner was so sick.

After about five minutes or so, Deidara fell deeply asleep on the redheads shoulder. Sasori, who was busy fixing Hiruko didn't notice this till about seven minutes later. He looked down at Deidara and a strange sensation filled him. For some reason he just wanted to take Deidara in his arms and hug him…and well, that's exactly what Sasori did. He could feel the blonde shiver from his sickness, and at this, the redhead held the blonde a little closer. Deidara's shivering made Sasori feel like it was his fault that he had made Deidara stand in the rain for so long.

After sitting like this for some time, Deidara woke up, sat up abruptly, and stared at Sasori with blurred confusion. "Sasori-Danna, what are you doing, yeah?'' he questioned for he was still in Sasori's tight grasp.

… "You were shivering…and I felt responsible for your sickness…" he replied very quietly.

'_This is kinda nice, yeah…' Deidara thought as he leaned into Sasori's warm grasp and fell asleep again._

A/N: Another Chapter. I am sorry if this chapter seemed corny or anything….but yeah…you can tell this is my first story, right? I have reasons for what I do, so don't worry. Hopefully it will all make sense as the story progresses. Anyways, hope you will join me for the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

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A/N: Yay! The Fifth Chapter is finally here! Nehee! –coughs- Anyways. I appreciate everyone who has read and reviewed my story! I dedicate this chapter to my friend Lindsay, thank you!

So! Please read and enjoy!

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Chapter Five:

The next morning, Deidara was lying in his own bed. His fever had gotten worse and his body felt like it was covered in a blazing inferno. He was also shaking uncontrollably, and was covered in a deep, hot sweat. Fearing for his partner's health and well-being, Sasori knew that Deidara would become dehydrated if he did not get some type of fluid into him. So, Sasori got up and strode into the bathroom. He flicked on the light and looked around the tiny bathroom, and located a tiny cup wrapped up in plastic by the sink.

Picking up the cup, he began to carefully remove the plastic from it. With the cup in hand, Sasori turned to the sink and lifted up the handle. Cold water rushed out from the faucet and poured into the drain. He held the small cup under the rushing water and filled it halfway. Then, he twisted the sink handle down until the water stopped freely flowing.

He left the bathroom and flicked off the light. He came to Deidara and bent down towards him. The sick shinobi was breathing heavily and had his own hand on his own forehead. To Sasori, Deidara looked like he was suffering greatly. Sasori had never really known what Deidara was going through, because he had never been sick before. He leaned over Deidara and sat him up halfway. Next, Sasori lifted up the cup to Deidara's mouth, and pretty much forced him to drink the cool liquid inside. As he was doing this, Deidara's hand grabbed Sasori around the wrist, and Sasori felt something clamp down hard on his wrist. Sasori gave Deidara a strange look, but noticed that the blonde was still sound asleep.

He took Deidara's hand and removed it forcefully from his wrist. When the redhead did this, he almost dropped the cup of water he was holding from complete and utter shock. On the palm of Deidara's hand, was a tiny, miniature mouth. It had sharp pointy teeth, and a long red tongue was hanging out. The mouth made a gurgling sound as it closed itself for a second, reopened, and stuck its tongue out at Sasori again. Sasori stared at the miniature mouth with slight interest for a couple of minutes, for he had never seen anything like this before in his life.

'_I wonder why he never showed me this before?'_ thought Sasori to himself_, 'but I guess I can see why…'_ he added as he stared at the hand.

He placed the cup of water to Deidara's mouth again, and with his other hand, held Deidara's hand down. He made Deidara drink every single drop of water, and when the blonde had finished, he sat the cup by the bedside table. He than examined his wrist and saw that the bite had left a circle of sharp pointed teeth marks.

Sighing, the nin walked over to his own bed and sat down upon it.

Sasori knew that he would have to wait for Deidara to get better before they could continue on with their mission. So, for now Sasori decided to work on his puppet once more to keep himself preoccupied.

Hours went by and it was now pitch black outside. Sasori had finally finished working on Hiruko (while stopping every thirty or so minutes to check on Deidara). He put the metal tool on the desk beside him and gave a muffled sigh. Wearing his bored expression, Sasori looked around the room…

"Danna?'' whispered a voice. It averted the redhead's attention to Deidara. He was sitting up in bed and was looking straight over at Sasori with confused, blinking forest green eyes.

Sasori stared back at Deidara with his own green eyes, and his ever famous light smile spread on his lips.

"Are you finally done being sick?'' he asked.

Deidara gave a slight shake of his head… "But, I am feeling better, un! So if we have to, we can finish the mission, yeah. I feel well enough to do that, yeah!" Deidara stated as he sat himself up even straighter.

Sasori could tell that Deidara was still not well enough to be running around Shiko. Standing up, Sasori walked over to Deidara and stared down at him.

"You are still not well enough to be prancing around outside. I will have to finish the rest of the mission myself without you."

Deidara just stared back at Sasori. He felt useless and helpless. He had not even helped the redhead gather information, and on top of that he got himself sick. In cause in effect manner, made Sasori take care of him, which made it one less day that they could gather the information they needed. And then, it happened. Deidara broke down.

"I should have never joined Akatsuki yeah," he choked. "I haven't even been any help. I just get in the way and get sick, yeah!" he said angrily as he felt tears burning to break free from his forest green eyes.

Sasori just watched Deidara's breakdown with slight interest.

"Deidara."

This automatically caught the Iwa Nin's attention. Sasori had always addressed him by 'Stupid Brat', never by his real name.

Sasori returned Deidara's gaze. "Stop being foolish," he stated as he looked at him, "You know that Akatsuki doesn't let just anyone join."

Even though the wording didn't really sound too kind, it made Deidara feel a whole lot better. He gave his partner a soft, sad smile that was followed by a nod.

"You're right. I have been a foolish brat." Deidara stated as he gave a sigh of relief. He titled his head and looked up at Sasori. He felt much better than he had earlier that day, probably because Sasori had been taking care of him. Deidara still felt a hint of sadness in him, yet there was a grin on his face.

This did not fool Sasori. He could tell that Deidara's aura had changed…and the redhead almost regretted what he did next…

"...Are you... broken?'' he questioned to Deidara, as he tilted his head and stared at him with questioning green eyes.

Deidara returned his gaze and said sadly, "In a sense, yes, un…." He paused, then said, "Can I have a hug, yeah?''

At this sentence Sasori just stared at him.

_ 'Does he think that because I hugged him that one time, that he can have a hug whenever he wants?'_ the redhead thought in his mind.

Sasori just kept staring at the blonde. His aura was completely different than Sasori was used to, and he did look broken in a sense. Sighing, he went over and lightly grasped Deidara. No sooner than had he done this, he quickly released him. But Deidara hadn't released him yet. In fact, Deidara was still hugging Sasori. Sasori looked down at him strangely. He could see that the blonde's aura had changed again. It was more at peace, and not as troubled as it was before.

Before Sasori knew what he was doing, he had rewrapped his arms around Deidara and was hugging the blonde back. Deidara responded to Sasori with a happy smile as he looked up at him.

_ 'This is sure different than when I was in Iwa. No one would ever care for me like Sasori does, yeah. He sure is a good friend, un…'_ thought Deidara to himself.

Meanwhile Sasori was also thinking something… '_I cant let myself get too attached…but now, I am afraid I can't go back…' _as he thought this, he gave an emotionless stare at Deidara. The blonde was so innocent and probably mistook what Sasori was doing for kindness.

Yet, Sasori himself didn't know why he felt attached to the blonde. Maybe it was the event that happened yesterday morning…When the blonde had hugged him in his sleep, and told Sasori that he loved him.

Sasori longed to hear those words again for his mental pleasure.

Right now, with Deidara hugging him tightly, Sasori would give up anything else in the world if the moment would last forever…but, of course it didn't.

Sasori knew that he couldn't let Deidara get to close to him. He had already made that mistake, and that person abused his trust and left him.

So, for now, Sasori decided to keep his dirty little secret in the crevices of his mind.

* * *

A/N: ; I am working on the sixth chapter right now…I hoped you liked this chapter, if not, than I suppose you could rant about it to me…or be nice and review, yeah?

Anyways! Sixth Chapter coming soon!

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	6. Chapter 6

_

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A/N: I wrote this kind of quickly, so I hope it doesn't completely ruin your brain with lameness. This chapter I made them a little more involved, so I hope the story is not moving too quickly. If it is, then I might have to rewrite this chapter (and make it longer), and resubmit it. Well, tell me what you think…_

_Dedicated to Amanda._

* * *

Chapter Six:

Deidara awoke the next day to a strange rustling noise. He turned over in his bed and opened one forest green eye to the noise. What he saw was Sasori. Sasori was sitting Hiruko on the floor and was straightening the black cloak that the puppet wore. Next, Sasori lifted up the back of the cloak that covered Hiruko. Hiruko had a mechanical tail that extended from what appeared to be a mouth which was apparently a mask on his back. After Sasori was inside his favorite puppet, he began to control Hiruko from within. He moved the arms first. He lifted up the right, which looked like a normal claw-like hand. Then he next moved the left arm. The left arm was quite strange. It appeared to be a large studded projectile capable of firing shrapnel.

Deidara stared at this with slight awe for he had never seen this part of the redhead's puppet.

After doing some more tests on Hiruko, Sasori decided to himself that it was time to depart. He slid right past Deidara's bed, opened up the door with his right hand, and disappeared through it. After the door closed with a soft 'click', Deidara opened both of his green eyes. The Iwa Nin then sat straight up in his bed, and a look of puzzlement plastered his face. Why hadn't Sasori taken Deidara with him?

'_Maybe it's because I've been sick…and he is still slightly worried about my health?'_ Deidara questioned to himself in his thoughts.

Brushing it off, Deidara decided that he would spend the rest of the day in the inn room, in case he was still sick. He did not want to risk getting sick once more; especially after Sasori had worked so hard to help him get this well. He also did not want to be scolded by the redhead. They where now finally getting along, and Deidara did not want to ruin their friendship.

Hours went by until the daytime passed completely. The moon was out, and its silver glow could be seen from outside the curtains that hung over the sliding glass door. Deidara sat on his bed, holding a piece of grey clay in his hands. His forest green eyes were closed and there was a fixated look of concentration on his face. After a short while, he fixated his own chakara into the grey clay until it turned a red-brown in color. After that, he slipped the clay into his brown bag that was beside his bed. Just as he was doing this, Deidara heard the door to the room slowly open. At this, Deidara leapt of his bed and ran over to the door, almost tripping over his own bag as he did so.

Deidara locked eyes with Sasori's puppet, Hiruko, as he then spoke up, "Danna! Look! I am feeling better, yeah!'' as a grin spread on his face.

Deidara then watched as Sasori climbed out of Hiruko with a slight grunt as he did so. The redhead then turned to stare back at Deidara, but did not answer his statement. Instead, he just gave a grunt and walked over and laid down on his own bed. At this, Deidara tilted his head and looked at Sasori with slight puzzlement.

_ 'Maybe he's tired, yeah?'_ Deidara thought as he looked Sasori over once more with his eyes.

"Sasori-Danna! I got you some food in case you where hungry, yeah!" exclaimed Deidara as he gave his usual grin and gestured towards a small white box that was sitting beside Sasori's bedside table. In response, Sasori simply ignored the blonde as he turned over on his side.

_ 'Did I do something wrong?!'_ Deidara thought frantically, _'Was it because I was sick?'_

At that moment, a slight sadness entered Deidara. How had he made Sasori mad? Deidara whished that Sasori would just scold him like he usually did, instead of ignoring him completely.

For the next hour, Deidara mainly kept quite. To keep himself preoccupied, he had been busy entering chakara into his clay. But, that can only keep someone as energetic as Deidara busy for so long. So, he returned the last of his clay to his bag once more, and decided that he might as well go to sleep. Besides, he was well enough now to finish the mission with Sasori, even though the redhead had not spoken to him since he had gotten back.

* * *

Deidara awoke again the next day to the same strange rustling noise. His eyes blinked open as confusion filled his mind. He then realized what the noise was, and quickly rolled over out of his bed onto the floor. He jumped as he pointed at Sasori who was just about to climb fully into Hiruko's back, "Where are you going, yeah?'' Deidara questioned with slurred speech. At the sound of Deidara's voice, Sasori gave a quick jolt of excitement. He then turned around to face the blonde directly.

"….out…." was all he said.

"With out me, un?!" Deidara exclaimed as he walked closer to Sasori. Sasori replied to Deidara with just a blank expression as he stood there.

"I am well enough to finish the mission, yeah! So let me come, yeah!" pleaded Deidara for he could not even stand the idea of sitting in his room all day again.

Once again, Sasori just gave the same blank expression. "Danna…" Deidara quietly whispered, "…are you mad at me, yeah?"

Sasori looked up at Deidara with his green eyes; as he than gave a half shake of his head very slowly. Sasori wasn't ignoring Deidara because he was mad at him; it was because he was afraid of getting too attached to the blonde.

"Then why can't I come? I thought we were a team, yeah!" the blonde almost shouted.

"You just can't come…" drawled the redhead. Then he turned and began to walk towards the door, where his puppet was waiting for him, and Deidara began to follow him. As quick as a flick of a cats tail, Sasori turned around and shoved him back, "Don't follow me," commanded the red head.

"I am part of this team, un! I was also assigned to this mission, yeah!" Deidara argued back.

Sasori stared at him, "I don't really care. Don't follow me," Sasori repeated once more, but his voice was a little sterner than it had been previously. Deidara clenched his fists tightly as he looked at Sasori with confusion and slight hatred. Then, Deidara got an idea. He took hold of Sasori's arm and pulled the redhead very close to him. Then, he lightly clasped Sasori's chin with his hand and pulled the redhead up towards him.

Before Sasori knew what was happening, his lips where against Deidara's. The blonde's fingers tightened on Sasori's shoulders as Deidara slightly deepened the kiss. Sasori felt a warm, new sensation touch his heart; in fact he had never felt this feeling in his entire life before. Then, Sasori returned the gentle kiss Deidara had bestowed upon him. A couple of seconds passed, and Deidara broke the kiss, and pulled back. To the blonde, this was his own twisted way of proving his argument, as he gave a light grin to himself. But, Sasori was not grinning. His mind was racing with adrenaline and different thoughts and ideas flowed through his mind. He quickly shook those from his mind, as he locked his sea green eyes with Deidara's forest green ones.

Then, Sasori put his hands on Deidara's chest and shoved him as hard as he could. Shocked slightly from being shoved this forcefully, Deidara lost his balance and fell over onto the bed. Before he could get up, he heard the door slam forcefully, as it made all the windows in the room vibrate from the force.

Sasori pressed his back against the door to his room. His mind raced with different thoughts.

What had just happened, and did it really happen?

Did Deidara really just kiss him?

Did he really kiss Deidara back?

And did he enjoy it?

Sasori then closed his eyes as he slowly released the door from his terrible grasp. Subconsciously, Sasori had wanted the kiss, but not in the way it had happened. Sasori put his hand over his mouth. That was his first kiss and it hadn't ended very well. The redhead knew that behind the door he stood at, Deidara was probably sitting there on his bed with a very sad aura swirling around him.

Sasori shook this thought from his mind as he took a couple of steps forward. He had left in such a rush that head had forgotten to climb inside Hiruko on his way out. That meant that gathering information about Suna was not an option today. He didn't want the villagers too suspicious, or he might never get the answers he desired. With a slight huff of agitation, Sasori turned down the hallway and left the Inn.

Going back to his room was not an option either. It would be very awkward since he had just left as well.

_ 'I wonder what he's thinking about…'_ pondered Sasori about five hours later. He was sitting under a large Palm tree that was surrounded with fine, dry grass and sand. The palm tree was away from the town square and not many people seemed to pass by it. To Sasori, this seemed to be the absolute location of where he could think without getting disrupted by the bustling noise of the village goers. It was also a better chance that not many people would see him as well.

'He probably thinks that I am a jerk, and he is correct in a way,' Sasori thought as he gave a small, dry smile to himself. _'Maybe this was the only way…the only way so he will stop being so kind to me,'_ but thinking this tortured the redhead deep down

His mind lingered back on the kiss that he had shared with the blonde, and how much he enjoyed it. How much he wanted it, but would not tell.

A couple more hours passed, and night had long past enriched the town with its darkness. The only light came from the houses that littered the streets, a couple of street lamps here and there, and the moon and stars. Though the night was peaceful, Sasori was not. He had to go back to his room, and this troubled him. He could only hope that Deidara was not there, but something deep down inside told him that he was. In a way, Sasori wanted to see the blonde again. He missed his quirky, outgoing personality. It was quite different than Sasori was used to.

Finally, Sasori stood up and began walking slowly back to his room.

When Sasori opened the door, he found Deidara in the almost exact position when he had left him. The whole room had a looming sadness. This began to eat at Sasori's heart…

'Did he just lie here all day?' pondered Sasori as he quietly moved to his side of the room. He glanced over at the blonde once more…he still was lying there, motionless. This began to torture Sasori's soul little by little.

"…Have…you eaten?" Sasori drawled out quietly as he shifted some of his tools he used on his puppets on his bedside table.

No response.

"…You have to eat, Deidara."

Again, no response. Sasori turned around to gaze straight at the young shinobi. When he did this, Deidara just gave him a blank stare back. Sasori heaved a sigh as he walked over to Deidara and set down a brown paper back on the blonde's bedside table.

"Eat, Deidara." Sasori commanded as stared down at him.

Blinking, Deidara slowly sat up as he took the brown bag from the table. He opened it and reached his hand inside the bag and pulled out something soft that was wrapped up in pure white paper.

"What's this?" he questioned very quietly as he inspected the wrapped object with his eyes.

"…Food…." Sasori replied almost as quietly as Deidara had,

"What kind, un?" Deidara questioned as his dull eyes began to fill with curiosity.

Sasori gave a smile in his mind. He was a bit relieved that Deidara was not completely broken yet. "Just eat it," the redhead said lightly as he watched Deidara unwrap it.

After he was done, Deidara held a sandwich in his hands. He tilted his head as he looked at it strangely, than he bit down into it. A sweet sensation filled his taste buds. When he was done chewing, his eyes lit up with slight happiness.

"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, yeah?" he said looking at Sasori with slight confusion.

"….from your personality I thought that you like to eat sweet things…." Sasori responded as he shifted on his feet nervously.

Deidara closed his eyes and gave a light smile, "Does this mean you aren't made anymore, Sasori-Danna, yeah?"

Sasori just stared at Deidara and gave him a light sigh in response. At this, Deidara's eyes filled up with complete and utter happiness.

_ 'He's not mad! That means he still likes me, yeah!'_ Deidara thought to himself as he took another bite and savored the sweet taste once more.

Deidara had the whole day to think about the situation he created earlier that morning. He had a million questions that where unanswered.

Why had Sasori ignored him the day before?

Why was Sasori sneaking out?

Was Sasori completing the mission without him because he was a nuisance?

But, the question that lingered in Deidara's mind the most was why had Sasori returned the kiss?

Did that mean that Sasori had _enjoyed_ the kiss?

Deidara decided that he would eventually ask Sasori this, but not at the moment. He decided to do this at a better time, once things had clamed down a bit.

_ 'Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow, yeah. Yeah…tomorrow seems like the perfect time…' _the blonde finally decided as he gave a slightly devious grin as he put that last bite of his sandwich into his mouth.

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A/N: I am not going to start writing the seventh chapter unless I get positive feedback, I suppose. Actually, any feedback would be delightful. I also promise to make my future chapters longer, because the last four have not been to my liking of lengthyness (is that a word? o.O?). I should have more time on my hands these days, so everything should run smoothly once more!

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	7. Chapter 7

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_A/N: Yay! Chapter Seven is finally here! After about…er a month I finally wrote it. I wasn't procrastinating; I just have been very busy. I don't particularly like this chapter much…I think it's a bit short and choppy. Anyways, enjoy!_

_Dedicated to my friend Ashlee…Another lover of the rubber duckies_

_I also want to thank all my readers who reviewed…it means **so much** to me! I also want to thank one reviewer for some spectacular art! Never stop drawing!_

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Chapter Seven: 

Almost a week had passed since Sasori and Deidara were last in Shiko. They had returned to headquarters with information about Suna, which pleased their leader. Deidara wasn't too surprised when he found out that the mysterious Nin he had called 'Shadowman' for so long was the leader of Akatsuki. He had merely brushed it off and gave his award-winning grin, as if he knew all along. After the information was delivered, Deidara got to meet almost all of the rest of the Akatsuki.

The most intimidating one (except for Zetsu of course) was a blue-skinned ninja named Kisame. He had insane, dark gray-blue spiky hair, a firm jaw line, and piercing amber eyes. Kisame was basically a shark man, to put it simple. He even had some 'fish-like' qualities, like, for example, gills on either side of his cheeks. On his back, Kisame carried a big sword that was wrapped in many white bandages, and was probably just as tall as Deidara himself. To match his already intimidating appearance, Kisame was also very tall himself.

The first time Kisame saw Deidara, his first statement was, "Ooh! So this is the runt, eh?"

Deidara had returned this statement with a long, cold, stare. Usually he had a pretty snappy comeback, but decided not to say anything to a man who towered over him easily (and especially in not front of his new leader).

The next ninja he 'met' was the same _plant_ ninja who had gave him his Akatsuki attire. During the brief meeting, he had mentioned in a low hiss that his name was Zetsu. Deidara learned that there where currently seven Akatsuki in total, not counting the many subordinates that littered the ninja villages, and he had met about four of them; not counting himself. That pretty much covered his meeting.For the rest of the week, Deidara had merely laid on his bed, bothered Sasori with his nonsense, and other hyper-like things. Now that it was Sunday, and exactly one week since the blonde and Sasori had returned, Deidara decided to do something different today. He decided that it was now Sasori's 'day off' from him, so, Deidara rolled off of his bed. He stood up, grabbed his bag, and left the room. Sasori of course was not in the room. The redhead seemed always to be the exact opposite of where Deidara was. This, at times, could be slightly complicated.

As Deidara walked down the stony passageway, thoughts of his trip to Shiko entered his mind. He remembered the first time he saw the real Sasori, and how shocked and confused he was. He also remembered how Sasori had taken care of him when he was sick. And, the last thing he remembered was the kiss. This thought almost jolted Deidara out of his thoughts.

_'How could I have forgotten, yeah!?'_ he thought as he bit his bottom lip_. 'Maybe that's why Sasori-Danna has been avoiding me…'_ he paused in his thoughts_, '…how could I have been this slow?'_ he said densely as he closed his green eyes and a pained expression curved on his face.

Deidara then felt himself run into something. He opened his eyes to see he had run into the exact person he knew didn't want to see him.

He put one of his arms behind his head, "Sorry, Danna! I didn't see you there, yeah!" he said, as he closed his eyes and gave a light smile to the redhead.

Sasori shook off the slight 'collision', as he gave Deidara an odd look with his green eyes. "Do be more careful…" he replied with a bored expression as he crossed his arms.

Deidara gave a nod and reopened his eyes. Sasori returned this gesture with a grunt as he slid past Deidara, who just stared as he left. At least Sasori had avoided another pointless conversation. Deidara had brought them up all week. Oh, what Sasori would do for another mission…then at least he wouldn't be stuck up in a confined space with someone as hyper as Deidara.

In fact, Sasori was on his way to meet with the Leader. This meant that there could be a mission in store for him and the blonde. At this, Sasori gave a slight smile, which seemed devious on his face.

* * *

An hour passed since the run-in, and since then, Sasori was slightly pleased to learn that there in fact was an upcoming mission. The mission was to begin tomorrow, and it was a simple mission that was to happen over an exact three-day period. 

_'That shouldn't be too hard if the Brat gives his full cooperation…'_ the redhead thought as he walked down a stony corridor, '_I just have to find him first…_'

So, Sasori's search began. He first checked the room he shared with Deidara, and to no luck did he find him. He then checked all the passageways that he knew Deidara knew of, and some odd other places he had found Deidara in the past week. He even had asked Kisame and Zetsu, but they didn't know of his whereabouts either. So, Sasori decided to check the room once again. When he entered their room, he made sure to look carefully. He looked in the closet, and under both beds, but to no avail.

_' This is just foolish,'_ Sasori thought as he gave a sigh, _'me having to look under_ _beds for my own partner…'_

Then a thought struck him. There was one place he hadn't yet looked. He turned around and walked to the left side of the room. He gave a slight grin at the closed wooden door that stood before him.

_'He has to be in here…this is the only place I have not yet looked,'_ he thought as he clenched his fist and placed it up to the door. He knocked lightly on the door, and waited. No answer. Sasori's left eye gave a twitch of annoyance as he replaced his hand and gave a sturdier knock. Again, no answer. With this, Sasori turned the handle to the bathroom door with slight ease and pushed the door open.

He glanced around the bathroom and came upon a very awkward scene. Deidara was sitting in the bathtub surrounded by many foamy white bubbles. They also covered every inch of his head, bare neck, and shoulders. He was currently playing with a little yellow rubbed ducky that he was making swim through the bubbles. Sasori took a couple of quick glances and then turned and dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Sasori pressed his back hard against the wood of the door as he slowly slid down till he was in a crouching manner. He placed his hands up to his forehead and cradled his head.

Deep lines of embarrassment appeared on Sasori's face as he shook what he just saw out of his head.

'_My head hurts….'_ he thought as he lifted his head up a little out of his hands.

Then Sasori felt a slight push against his back as he slid forward a bit, and the door he was leaning against began to slowly open. He widened his dark green eyes, and was about to scramble out of the way when Deidara called down to him.

"What'cha doing down there Danna, yeah?" he questioned as he placed one of his hands slightly on his hips, and the other was scratching his wet head. He wore only a white cotton towel around his waist, and it hung dangerously low on his hips. His straw blonde hair was wet and clung to his neck and bare shoulders, and beads of hot water dotted his skin. On one side of his head, there was still a small cluster of bubbles.

Sasori took one look at him and automatically looked back down at his feet as the same embarrassment returned to him. Deidara cocked his head to one side and looked down at the redhead with slight confusion.

"Are you ok, yeah?" he asked in a worried town as he bent down towards Sasori and placed a hand on his shoulder. Sasori pushed Deidara's arm away, and pulled away from him slightly. He gave a quick shook of his head.

'_I can't let him see…'_ thought Sasori as he tried to hide his slight embarrassment.

A slight frown curved on Deidara's lips as he retracted his arm.

'_Have I pushed him away completely?'_ wondered Deidara as he held his hands close to his chest. A sad sensation entered broke through Deidara's heart as he stood there, _'Does this mean…that he doesn't like me anymore?' _Deidara gripped Sasori's shoulder with one of his hands and directed the redhead back towards him.

"Do you hate me now, yeah?!" exclaimed Deidara as slight hurt filled his eyes. He was finally getting along with his partner, and now Sasori was acting strangely. "Did I do something wrong?" he questioned quietly.

_'It's actually the quite opposite…'_ the redhead thought.

Sasori turned and looked at Deidara and saw the hurt filled in his eyes. His sleek features were curved into a sad expression. "…No…" Sasori answered as plainly as he could. Deidara kneeled forward and grabbed Sasori roughly by the collar and pulled him forward. He looked directly at him with his forest green eyes. "Then why don't you ever talk to me anymore, yeah? I mean…you never really talked before…but, now you talk even less than when I first met you!" exclaimed the blonde as he leaned closer to Sasori, his beautiful face with the same expression, " why? Aren't we friends?"

Sasori's shoulders drooped a little to what Deidara was saying. Why had he been ignoring him more lately? Than Sasori had a slight idea why. Though, he wouldn't tell Deidara this. He also wondered why the blonde was getting so upset over such a thing. "..No. That's not it…we ar- " but he was cut off as Deidara gave him a rough shake.

"Then tell me why?" he questioned as his grip became a bit less, and tears burned behind his pretty green eyes.

"…It's just how I am…but, why are _you_ acting this way, Deidara?" he inquired.

Deidara's sad eyes widened slightly. He had been acting overemotional without really meaning to drag Sasori into it…He released Sasori's collar and slowly lowered his hands.

"People in Iwa…used to befriend me…then leave suddenly without telling me why they didn't want to be friends…" stated Deidara quietly as a hurt expression found it way on his face.

'_Oh…so that's why he is overreacting…_' considered Sasori as he looked at Deidara.

"That's why I h-had to as-ask…" Deidara said as he choked on the last couple of words.

Sasori looked at this with slight interest. For some unknown reason, he hated seeing Deidara look like this. He slowly leaned up to the blonde. Even though he was on the verge of just letting all of his misfortunes in Iwa come pouring out, to Sasori, the blonde still looked beautiful. Sasori leaned forward and pressed his lips against the blonde's. As soon as he did so, a sensation filled Sasori's heart. He half-expected Deidara to pull away, but he did not. So, he continued. He leaned in more to Deidara, deepening the kiss and felt the blonde flinch as his back hit the wall of their bedroom. Sasori could feel his own lips against Deidara's soft ones as a jolt of electricity ran through him. Sasori grabbed the back of the blonde's head and pulled him up and closer to him. He ran his hand through the wet, straw blonde hair. It felt so soft. After a few minutes, Sasori snapped back to reality. He released a shocked and confused Deidara and almost fell over backwards.

What had he been doing just a couple minutes ago?

Sasori slowly stood up, but did not look at the Iwa Nin who was still leaning against the wall. The redhead didn't want to look at him. Not now. So, he quickly turned towards the left and exited out of the room, leaving Deidara behind. Deidara watched him go, but couldn't move. He was still slightly high off that kiss. When he shook it off, Deidara's head began to swirl with confusion.

_'Why the hell did he kiss me, yeah?'_ He thought to himself as he stood up and tightened his white towel that was about to fall off of his waist. _'Was that **my answer**?' _wondered Deidara as he moved over to his bed and sat down upon it.

'_How should I **answer him** in return?'_

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A/N: Hehe…**how is** Deidara going to answer him, eh? _

_I hope this chapter isn't akward in any way…for some reason I just don't like it._

_I really wanted to do more with Sasori and Deidara than that…but decided against it, for now at least. I want their relationship to develop a little deeper…I have a slight idea for the next chapter, seeing as it will be another mission. Whoo-hoo! Please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter...I may rewrite it

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	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Finally! It's here Ladies and Gentlemen! (if there are any) The next Chapter!_

_Sorry it took SO long… my life has been busy between school and well.. life…_

_So! I hope you enjoy my crappeh chapter!_

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Sasori entered their darkened room and grunted. He reached up and flicked on the light. Like a disease, the light spread throughout the room, illuminating it with a bright, unnatural glow. His green eyes scanned the lightened room and stopped on the single wooden bed that was that was against the last wall. The small sleeping figure of Deidara laid curled up like a cat on the end of his bed. Sasori grunted at the sleeping figure with annoyance. Deidara hadn't even bothered to dress himself, and was in the exact same attire Sasori had left him in previously. 

He gave a light cough and closed his eyes, "Deidara," called Sasori sternly.

He opened one green eye at the sleeping Iwa Nin, who seemed unaffected. With a pained sigh he crossed his arms.

'_This is so like him'_ the redhead thought to himself. Sasori strode up to the side of his partner's bed and gave him a quick, rough shake.

'Nmm!' Deidara moaned in rejection as he flexed his bare toes and curled up tighter into a ball.

"Wake up, Stupid Brat!" Sasori yelled as he grabbed Deidara's left foot and began to pull him out of the bed. Finally, Sasori managed to fully pull the blonde off of the bed and onto the cold floor.

"Uwah!" was the shocked cry of Deidara as he slid out of his bed and hit the floor.

"Stupid brat! I told you we had a mission today!" growled Sasori.

Deidara gave a couple of blinks as he sat up and crossed his legs Indian style, as he sat on the floor. "Un? Danna?" said the sleepy voice.

He tilted his head slightly as his sitting style became very sloppy and childlike. Sasori closed his eyes and crossed his arms as the usual bored-like expression poured onto his face. "Hurry and get dressed. We have a mission to carry out," he demanded.

"Nani?" was the slightly lame response as the blonde hugged his bath towel and stood up.

"Yes, Danna," came the obedient reply as he gathered up his Akatsuki attire that lay strewn about on the floor.

Slowly, he sluggishly moved to the bathroom and closed the door. Sasori sat roughly down on his own bed_, 'Why? Why do I have to deal with this?'_

After a short time, Deidara emerged from the bathroom fully clothed and a slightly annoyed look plastered on his face.

"You didn't have to pull me out, yeah!" complained the Iwa Nin as he lifted a brown bag off of the floor beside his bed and wore a pouty expression. He opened one eye at Sasori, who just gave him a blank stare.

"Let's go," Sasori stated as he left the room to get Hiruko prepared for the journey.

'_He didn't even tell me where we were going, un,_' thought Deidara to himself as he slung his bag over his shoulder, and then picked up another small, black bag. He stepped out into the hallway, and followed Sasori.

When Deidara had finally caught up to Sasori, he found the redhead already inside is overly creepy puppet.

"So where are we exactly going, yeah?"

The black beady eyes of Hiruko merely stared at the blonde, "Either your coming, or your not."

Deidara's eyes filled with mild surprise at the statement, as a small "Eh?" escaped his lips.

Hiruko turned his back towards his partner and began to slide down the stony corridor.

_'I guess I really have no choice,'_ the Iwa Nin admitted to himself as he followed after the retreating back of his Danna.

* * *

Hours. Hours on end. It seemed like they had been walking nonstop for twelve hours straight, which they probably had. They had started when the sun had just been setting behind the mountains. Now the sun was in the exact same position, except it was rising. As it rose, the sky seemed to be painted in rich soft morning colors of dark purple and blue. As the sky became closesr to the sun, the purple gradually lightened and was specked with pink. The few clouds that dotted the sky where outlined in a thin gold, and their white surface reflected the gentle pink. The silver moon was still visible, but was now setting to make way for the day. The morning air was crisp, and the grass that crunched beneath their feet was lightly drizzled with morning dew. 

What a peaceful environment. How Deidara would do anything to stop and find a soft patch of grass to curl up in and sleep. Of course, he automatically cast that idea from his sleepy mind. As long as Sasori kept going, Deidara would too. He noticed that on their previous mission, the redhead never tired once. Deidara assumed that this was because Sasori was used to doing long, drawn out missions for the Akatsuki. So, in a way, Deidara was increasing his walking for twelve -hours-non-stop- stamina.

His left green eye twitched with slight agitation. He really didn't mind the walking part, for he was a ninja, and ninja endure much harsher things. Oh no. The thing that was really making him crazy was the fact that Sasori had not spoken a single word to him since the previous day. Well, Deidara didn't really have the right to complain, since he hadn't said anything either.

Issuing a small sigh, Deidara tapped the bell on his hat two times.

_Jingle._

_Jingle._

For the first two hours this had been a cure for his severe boredom, but his interest had dissipated almost has quickly as it had been found.

_'I guess I can't blame him, yeah,'_ Deidara thought to himself as he hit the small metal once more. _'I did put him in an…awkward situation. Though, it was kind of awkward for me too,'_ he argued with himself as a slight pout look graced his features.

'_Eh. I'm not the one to judge so quickly…_' another tap of the bell, _'I have put him in an awkward situation before, yeah.'_

He was just as guilty as Sasori. He of course did not forget what he did to Sasori on their last mission. Though, the blonde had only kissed him to make him shut up and listen, and to prove his point in the argument. Sure, it made no sense to anyone else, but in Deidara's mind it was perfectly clear. Deidara had never kissed, or been kissed, by another man before.

At the exact same time, Sasori had been watching the expressions on the blonde's face from the corner of his eye. Seeing Deidara's facial expressions change so suddenly, made him think that the blonde was even more callow than before. He tilted his strange (Hiruko's …) head at the grin Deidara was issuing.

'_Why is he grinning? His face has shown nothing but boredom throughout the trip,'_ pondered Sasori briefly as he slid along. He took another glance at Deidara_, 'Does that mean he isn't freaked out by my actions? Or maybe he's finally lost it.'_

As Sasori was lost in thought, Deidara glanced over at him.

"Danna," his voice cracked through the silenced and through the thoughts.

"Look, Danna, a town!" the Iwa exclaimed as he jumped up and down.

Sasori turned his head to face where Deidara was looking. It in fact was a town. Though not just any town, that town was their mission. At this, Sasori grinned.

* * *

Deidara slammed his bag down at the end of his bed, in the hotel room. The room was a lot smaller than the previous one, and he was amazed that they had actually fit two beds in here, even though the beds were pretty much squished up right next to each other. 

"Why does it have to be _that_ kind of mission," breathed Deidara as he flopped down on his bed. Ignoring the usual complaining, Sasori slipped out of Hiruko and stared at the blonde with blank eyes. Silence was Deidara's answer.

About two hours ago, they had met with another outlawed ninja. The ninja had explained to them the jist of the mission. It was very simple. They were to meet with some _important_ feudal lord at the dinner hall in the middle of town. Around eleven p.m., they would exchange packages. The Akatsuki would give a desired package to this lord, and in return he would give them one in return. Though, by the end of the night the Akatsuki would acquire both. After retrieving both packages, they would meet in a desired spot by five-thirty a.m. the very next morning. Thus, receiving their award and their mission stated complete. Their identity wouldn't need to be covered, and would be best if it wasn't, to prevent suspicion. The mission only had about a two percent chance of failing.

The mission seemed easy enough, and they had the beauty of disposing the lord anyway they desired. In his mind, Deidara thought of a beautiful way of destroying the lord but, it wouldn't quite work at all. Just as he was thinking this, Sasori called to him.

"..-diot. Hey, Stupid Brat!" came the angered voice from the redhead.

"What!?" Deidara answered back, with slight annoyance.

Sasori glared at him with his sharp green eyes. "I don't want you participating in this mission," he bluntly ordered.

Deidara's upper corner of his mouth twitched as it drooped into a frown, and than slight anger swelled in him. Sasori hadn't let him participate in any of the missions so far! Obviously, that wasn't fair.

"Danna!" he began to argue as he crossed his arms and stood up. "I _**am**_ participating. I am part of this team too, yeah!"

Sasori stared at Deidara long and hard before he said, "Say nothing. Wear normal clothes," he paused as he grabbed Deidara roughly by his arm and pulled him down close to meet his eyes "Get in my way, and I'll kill you," adding intensity to his last phrase, as he walked over to a chair and plopped down in it and began working on another puppet.

A sigh of frustration escaped Deidara's lips. He was treating him like a small child!

They were partners!

Equals!

Ok, maybe not completely on the same level, but close enough.

Uncrossing his arms, the blonde walked over and plopped down on his bed. It was roughly eight at night, and he had two hours before he even had to get prepared. So, slowly closing his green eyes, Deidara drifted off into a doze.

Awaking an hour later, the Iwa Nin found that he was fully awake. Unable to force his mind into slumber, he sat up suddenly, which caught a stare from Sasori. A simple stretch and yawn, Deidara rolled off of his bed and onto the floor. Standing, he scratched his chest and walked over to his small bag that laid by the chair that was occupied by the redhead. He undid the claps and began to dig through the bags continents, pulling out his desired clothes. He shook them out to rid them of the wrinkles, though it did a poor job. He rose and began to head for the bathroom.

Grinning, he thought to himself, _"No matter what, this mission is going to be fun."_

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_A/N:_

_Rather short, eh? I know… nothing even exciting happened … though, I am writing the next as we speak._

_Reviews make me a happy writer and make me add more chapters! X3!_

_Please alert me of any typos._


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